ESIC and PwC Spain hold a meeting with experts to identify the main challenges and uncertainties of CEOs in Spain

Resilience vs. efficiency

Climate change, technology, the global fracture, the social scenario and the demographic trend stand out as five major trends that transform the agendas of business leaders.

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What are the concerns of a CEO from Spain? To answer that question, ESIC and PwC Spain They have organized the meeting “Challenges and uncertainties in the agenda of a CEO”, a meeting that was attended by Manuel Martin Espada, partner responsible for Markets and Clients at PwC Spain, Irene Cano, general director of Meta Spain and Portugal, Jaime by Jaráiz Lozano, CEO of LG Electronics

Iberia, Eva Ivars Bigues, CEO Alain Afflelou Spain, Juan Pablo Lázaro Montero de Espinosa, CEO of Sending, Maria Jose Talavera, general director of VMware and independent director at Omel-Operador del Mercado Eléctrico.

 

“If recent years have taught us anything, it is that we must address the immediacy of crises while always taking into account long-term trends. Therefore, in the current context of uncertainty, "Companies that base their strategies on technology, digitalization, and sustainability will be better prepared to face disruptions and ensure their growth," said Martín, partner in charge of Markets and Clients at PwC, who also presented some conclusions from the firm's annual global CEO survey.

 

According to this study, 83% of CEOs will change the focus of investment in the next 3 years towards digital transformation and 60% are already increasing ESG investments and sustainability strategies. In addition, climate change, technology, the global fracture, the social scenario and the demographic trend stand out as five major trends that transform the agendas of business leaders. “Resilience is prioritized over efficiency,” said Martín.

 

Finally, at the national level, inflation, geopolitical tensions arising from the war in Ukraine, rise in interest rates, the increase of energy cost, the increase in taxation, the increase in the cost of raw materials or the retention of talent and salary costs stand out as concerns of the managers surveyed.

 

This is a scenario defined by the speakers as “exciting”. “The goal of a CEO is to create opportunities from every challenge we face as a company,” he stated. By Jaráiz Lozano, “we have to bring out the best in ourselves to survive each technological, economic and social change.”

 

We are in a scenario defined by the speakers as “exciting”. “The objective of a CEO is to create opportunities from each challenge we face as a company,” said Jaime de Jaráiz Lozano, president and CEO of LG Electronics Iberia, “we have to bring out the best in ourselves to survive each technological change, economic and social

 

“Companies coexist today in an environment of crisis and technological revolution,” Lázaro stressed, “today more than ever we have to grow in a global environment, but without losing the concept of a start-up and the excitement of the first day.”

 

For his part, Talavera highlighted that “at a time when lTraining is more widespread than ever in our country, Attitude and commitment become differentiating qualities in a company's personnel selection process.

 

"Nomadism, the Anglo-Saxon model "When changing companies or working on projects gains value, workers seek more competitive salaries and get richer by collaborating with other people and cultures," he added. Eduardo Gómez Martín, president of ESIC. “This requires educational centers to train in tools that allow our students to work anywhere.”

Cano declared himself “optimistic about how long the recession will last, because during the pandemic many companies made investments in technology and people that will allow organizations to be much more resilient.”

“Just because the world is going bad, it doesn't have to go bad for your company, or vice versa,” he warned. Ivars Bigues“I’m worried about self-fulfilling prophecies. There are factors that tell us we can come out of this well, but a wave of pessimism is looming over us that could drag us into a crisis.”